Remigijus Bridikis, director of the State Security Department (VSD), has called on politicians to return to a proposal first floated by Lithuanian intelligence nearly a decade ago to criminalise subversive activity.
"At the very least, we need to review the legal framework," Bridikis told the Žinių Radijas radio station.
"These emerging threats, growing tensions and the objectives of hostile states aren't going away – they're becoming more complex. The main point we made back then was that [...] we need to look for ways to criminalise subversive activity," he added.
According to the intelligence chief, subversive activity can include spreading disinformation, organising sabotage, and assisting a hostile state in acting against Lithuania.
The idea of criminalizing subversive activity was first publicly raised by Darius Jauniškis, the then-VSD director, in 2016.
In recent years, Lithuanian and other Western agencies have observed an increase in Russian sabotage activity.
Bridikis did not comment on Eduardas Vaitkus, a former Lithuanian presidential candidate, who recently travelled to Belarus, but said that "Russia and Belarus have exploited and will exploit individuals who speak out against Lithuania and the democratic values it upholds".
In Belarus, Vaitkus claimed that President Gitanas Nausėda had been elected illegally and accused Lithuania of being on a path toward destroying the Lithuanian nation and statehood.
His remarks were published by Belarus' state news agency Belta and various news websites. According to those reports, Vaitkus met with the leader of the Belaya Rus party and held a press conference.
Following the trip, police launched a pre-trial investigation on suspicion of aiding a foreign state in acting against Lithuania.
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